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Research Interests

I am a senior research scientist with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. My main interests are the sources and chemical transformations of organic compounds in the atmosphere, the formation of ozone and secondary organic aerosol, and the impact that these processes have on air quality, climate change, and human health. To study these issues, I use measurements of organic compounds by mass spectrometry and gas chromatography. I am also interested in the environmental effects of energy production and use at present and in the future.

Current Research

Urban air quality

I have studied the processes that determine urban air quality in cities as diverse as Boston, New York City, Houston, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Beijing, and Shanghai. Measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are used to determine their emission sources and chemical transformations. I have incorporated the measurements of other organic species into the analyses to describe the total budget of total organic carbon, gas and aerosol phase, and how the budget changes as a function of photochemical processing. See first photo below.

Atmosphere-Biosphere interactions

The largest source of VOCs worldwide is from vegetation. I have studied the effects of these emissions on the atmosphere, including measurements of emission fluxes, chemical transformations including formation of secondary organic aerosol, and to what extent these processes are affected by anthropogenic emissions. A large study took place in the Southeast U.S. in 2013 during the NOAA SENEX study that I led. The U.S. emissions of the biogenic VOC isoprene are highest in the Southeast and this region is well known for its summertime haze as seen, for example, in the Smoky Mountains.

Emissions from Oil and Natural Gas Production

Since the mid 2000s, the U.S. has seen a strong increase in the production of natural gas and crude oil from shale formations thanks to the development of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Associated with this industrial activity are emissions of the greenhouse gas methane, ozone precursors such as nitrogen oxides and VOCs, and air toxics such as benzene and hydrogen sulfide. Also, ozone formation from these emissions has been observed in the winter in basins in Utah and Wyoming. I have studied emissions of methane and air pollutants associated with the production of crude oil and natural gas in area ranging from North Dakota to Texas in the Western U.S., to Pennsylvania in the East.

View from the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, China. Photo: Joost de Gouw

SONGNEX participants with the research aircraft in the NCAR hangar, Rocky Mountain Metro Airport, Broomfield, Colorado. Photo: David Oonk/CIRES

Drilling in the Permian Basin, western United States. Photo courtesy: Joost de Gouw